Entering the Lady Chapel you meet a gracious, light and open space. The thirteenth and fourteenth centuries saw the rise of the cult of the Virgin Mary, and chapels in her honour were added to many churches and cathedrals, including Ely. This chapel is exceptional as it is by far the largest attached to any British cathedral. Its foundations were laid in 1321, just before the collapse of the central tower, and work continued despite the disaster. Its construction was overseen by John of Wisbech, whose memorial lies just in front of the doors.

It was completed in 1349, when it would have looked very different from today. It was highly coloured, with windows alive with stained glass and painted statues in the niches.

All this was destroyed in the sixteenth century during the Reformation, which, in keeping with Puritan convictions, rejected all forms of religious decoration. Traces of the paint can still be seen, and fragments of the glass survive in the central window on the south side. You can see the damage clearly – the exquisite figures in the lower niches have been defaced. and above these are the empty pedestals where the statues stood. It is believed that the carvings told the story of Mary’s life and miracles. Despite its beauty this is a place of brokenness; you may like to pause here and pray about the brokenness, grief or loss that you have experienced.

Above the altar is a new statue of Mary by David Wynne. It was installed in the year 2000, the third of the millennium sculptures. Most representations of Mary are passive, holding the child Jesus on her knee. Here she is expressive, exulting in the news that she is to be the mother of the Saviour. On the base of the statue are her words from St Luke’s Gospel: ‘Behold the handmaid of the Lord’ (Luke 1.38).

Known as ‘Little Germany’ where Cambridge scholars debated the works of Martin Luther in the Early sixteenth century.

A birthplace of the reformation in England.

Content coming soon

Update 18/09/17 – links to currently uploaded posts added below. I have some posts yet to be written. I also need to add an intro to this post

Update 25/07/23 – I still need to write the intro

People:

Imprisoned – John Gerard, Catholic Priest, 1597

John Gerard’s story told in the Salt Tower, Tower of London

The Autobiography of a Hunted Priest by John Gerard

Book Review

St Nicholas Owen Priest-Hole Maker by Tony Reynolds

Book Review

Blessed John Wall

Glass window dedication at Harvington Hall

Places:

Traquaire – The House

A refuge for Catholic priests

Little Malvern Priory

A safe house for Catholics with an chapel in the attic and what may have been secret access to the chapel

Moseley Old Hall

An Old Catholic family provides refuge for Charles I

Harvington Hall – Priest Hides

A tour of the priest hides in pictures and words

The Chapel – Harvington Hall

Attic chapel with a hide for ‘massing stuff’

Ye Olde Bell

Guesthouse with a secret tunnel to the nearby Priory – Used by Lord Lovelace of Hurley (a plotter of the ‘Glorious Revolution’)

Hurley Priory

History, Lord Lovelace connection and secret tunnels.

Dorney Court and its Recusancy Connections

This house reveals a recently discovered priest hole that is thought to be connect to Burnham Abbey via a secret passage.

The Old Bishop’s Palace – Ely

A prison for 32 Catholic recusants between 1588-97

Arundel

After King Henry VIII parted from the Church of Rome and declared himself Head of The Church of England missionary priests were able to continue their teachings in Arundel.

Plots:

Remember Remember…

An account of the Gunpowder Plot

The Habington Chest

Habington’s chest in the Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum

The Birthplace of Guido Fawkes

Guido Fawkes, was caught in the basement of the Houses of Parliament as he prepared to ignite hidden barrels of gunpowder.